 He lost his seat at the February 1982 general election, but subsequently was nominated by the Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald to the 17th Seanad.He was elected to the Agricultural Panel of the 18th Seanad in 1987.At the 1989 general election he re-gained his Dáil seat for the Roscommon constituency and was re-elected for the new Longford–Roscommon constituency at the 1992 general election.